1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wooden stairtread, more particularly to a wooden stairtread having all surfaces thereof covered by higher quality wood.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional wooden stairtread, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,398, is shown to have a rectangular shape, a length, height and depth, and includes a nose member 1 and an elongate tread body 2 interconnected to each other. The nose member 1 is made of a single, unbroken, solid piece of higher quality wood, and extends the full height and full length of the stairtread. The nose member 1 has a first longitudinal edge surface 101 and a second longitudinal edge surface 102 opposite to the first longitudinal edge surface 101. The second longitudinal edge surface 102 is rounded in cross section to form the nose of the stairtread. The elongate tread body 2 includes a core layer 201 having a top face, a top layer 202 having a bottom face glued to the top face of the core layer 201, and a longitudinal edge surface 203 glued to the first longitudinal edge surface 101 of the nose member 1. The core layer 201 is made of a plurality of first elongate thicker lamellas 201xe2x80x2 which are glued laterally and adjacently to each other. The first elongate thicker lamellas 201xe2x80x2 are made of lower quality wood, and include one thicker lamella 201xe2x80x3 that is most distal from the nose member 1. The thicker lamella 201xe2x80x3 is made of a single, unbroken piece of lower quality wood material, and extends the full length of the stairtread. The top layer 202 is made of a plurality of single, unbroken, second elongate thinner lamellas 202xe2x80x2 which are glued laterally and adjacently to each other. The second elongate thinner lamellas 202xe2x80x2 are made of higher quality wood. The top layer 202 and the nose member 1 define continuous higher quality wooden apparent top and nose surfaces of the stairtread.
Although the conventional wooden stairtread uses a combination of the higher and lower quality wood materials to help reduce consumption and destruction of forest resources, the stairtread does not convey a wholly covered higher quality wood appearance.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a wooden stairtread having all surfaces thereof covered by higher quality wood.
According to this invention, a wooden stairtread having a length, height and depth, comprises an elongate nose member, an elongate tread body, and a tread end member. The elongate nose member extends the full length and full height of the stairtread, is made of higher quality wood, and has a longitudinal front curved surface, a longitudinal connecting end surface opposite to the longitudinal front curved surface, and two opposite lateral end surfaces. The longitudinal connecting end surface has upper and lower longitudinal edges. The elongate tread body extends the full length and full height of the stairtread, and has first and second longitudinal connecting end surfaces. The first longitudinal connecting end surface is connected to the longitudinal connecting end surface of the nose member. The second longitudinal connecting end surface is opposite to the first longitudinal connecting end surface. The tread body includes at least one elongate core layer, at least one upper surface layer, and at least one lower surface layer. The elongate core layer is between the first and second longitudinal connecting end surfaces, and has top and bottom sides. The upper surface layer is secured to the top side of the core layer, and has a top side flush with the upper longitudinal edge of the longitudinal connecting end surface of the nose member. The lower surface layer is secured to the bottom side of the core layer, and has a bottom side flush with the lower longitudinal edge of the longitudinal connecting end surface of the nose member. The core layer includes two lateral end members and at least one middle core member between the lateral end members. Each of the lateral end members has an end face that is flush with a respective one of the lateral end surfaces of the nose member. The lateral end members and the upper and lower surface layers are made of higher quality wood. The middle core member is made of lower quality wood. The tread end member is opposite to the nose member, is made of higher quality wood, and is connected to the second longitudinal connecting end surface of the tread body.